Drake’s Take: New Releases 03.17.09

In a slow SXSW week, Drake recommends the latest from Wavves (who is definitely drumming up some buzz around here, but isn’t really my thing) and some sweet reissues from 60’s cult icon Scott Walker. My personal picks of the week would probably be “Rearrange Beds” from Australian pop duo, An Horse and the “V” EP by Brooklnyn art rockers, Violens. -ed.

Drake’s Take: New Releases 03.17.09

It’s the week of SXSW, so it’s a mostly quiet week as far as releases go, but leave it to a slacker like Nathan Williams (Wavves) to not get the memo. Another rebel, Scott Walker, gets the much welcomed reissue treatment in conjunction with a great documentary on the man making the rounds. And we discover that most his discography has recently been made available via digital distribution(!). Elsewhere, there are new releases from Willie Nelson, Superdrag, Seeland, White Lies, Black Joe Lewis and Gabriella Cilmi. Have at it.

Wavves is 22-year-old Nathan Williams, a one-man noise rock wrecking crew, quickly aligning himself with the No Age/Times New Viking wing of the new noise rock movement. Turning his boredom into effortless chaos, Williams differentiates himself from the flock by honing in on the nostalgia of those innocent days of youth. The lazy SoCal slack of “Gun In The Sun” spreads a bit of sunshine above the noise, while the songs “So Bored” and “No Hope Kids” are both majestic and immensely bleak. It’s this fine line between joy and pain where Wavvves is at it’s peak, and as both Liz Lemon and my 4-year old are prone to say, “I want to go to there.”

One of my favorite films I saw in 2007 was the documentary 30 Century Man: Scott Walker, and in conjunction with the film finally getting limited runs in various cities, his discography is finally getting some reissues. Two albums that cover (almost) the entirety of his best post-Walker Brothers solo work are on the docket, Boy Child, which is the best of the songs Scott Engel (Walker) has written (minus the oddly omitted “30 Century Man,”) and Sings Jacques Brel, collecting all of Engel’s amazing covers of the Belgian singer-songwriter. This is from the period of time where the name Scott Walker rivaled the Beatles in popularity in the UK. I purchased these via import years ago when they were released, thanks to all of Engel/Walker’s discography from the time period being criminally out of print here in the U.S., but now their finally being made available here. The other album that gets back in print is Walker’s stunning ’95 release,Tilt, which helped prompt the aforementioned compilations.

Seeing that these compilations were getting much deserved reissues also alerted me to the fact that Walker’s first three solo albums (Scott, Scott 2 and Scott 3,) and another compilation (Scott Walker & The Walker Brothers – 1965-1970) had gotten digital distribution and were in Rhapsody as well. I’ve alreadywrittena lot about Walker and his amazing work, so I won’t bore you with my fanboy ramblings, and instead just implore all to try some of these albums, and do whatever you can to see the film 30 Century Man, as it wonderously explores both Walker’s pin-up days, and the fascinating transformation to a creator of high (and difficult) art.